Forced Enjoyment

First, I’m going to say, “Happy Mothers’ Day” to all moms, especially my own. Being a mom is the hardest gig out there, no doubt about it. I don’t think that any woman can TRULY appreciate what their own mother has done until she, herself, is a Mom. So, thanks Mom. I love you.

Yesterday I had our day all planned out. The weather was crappy. Windy, cold and rainy. And I knew it was going to be like that. So, the plan was to do our little Saturday morning routine at the restaurant and then hang in the house. I had the girls all prepped for an afternoon of jammies, movies and the Wii. Perfect. And while they were doing that, I was planning on catching up on some housework (you know, clean a couple of bathrooms, vacuum, laundry) and some internet work. But wait…there was more. After putting them to bed, I planned on reading my new book from Charlaine Harris (Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 10)) for a couple of hours before watching Betty White host Saturday Night Live.

It all started out great. The girls (after a little, um, “discussion” about what they were going to watch) settled in to watch Goosebumps and All Grown Up. I chatted with Tony for a bit, got some work done, and we all decided to have a snack of ice cream about 3:30. That is the time of day that my energy hits that gigantic dip. I brewed coffee and sat on the couch with the kids, enjoying Rugrats: All Grown Up. Well, I think I was actually enjoying the inside of my eyelids. Then it happened.

The power went out.

Thank God the coffee had already brewed! We sat and waited for a couple of minutes to see if it was just a flicker (because that happens more often than a long stretch of no power). No go. The kids continued to play, but I was sort of stuck. Couldn’t do laundry. Couldn’t vacuum. The bathrooms that needed cleaned were the ones without windows, so that was out. No internet. So, I started reading my book.

And that’s what I did until the power came back on around 6:00.

It put me in a great mood. I happily made dinner. I set the kids up in Chloe’s room for their quasi-sleepover. I kept on reading. I surrendered my to-do list for a day of doing what I wanted to do. I mean, I had to diffuse some fights. I had to freak out when they wouldn’t just LAY DOWN AND GO TO BED AT 10:00. But I finished my book.

Just in time to watch Saturday Night Live, which was awesome! This was probably my favorite:

And guess what? I DID vacuum this morning. And do some laundry. Oh, and I got breakfast in bed! (Watermelon , a fiber bar and iced tea from Chloe. Iced tea and a salami sandwich with a broken up string cheese on it from Becca. Awesome.)